Membership qualification processing system and method thereof

ABSTRACT

A service system stores membership qualification conditions of a plurality of services. The service system selects a service that a user can use from those and displays the selected service. The service system references information of another service of which a user has already become a member and performs a membership qualification of the user on behalf of a server of each service.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a membership service using anetwork such as the Internet. In particular, the present inventionrelates to a system and a method for processing a membershipqualification for each of a plurality of services.

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] A service provider on a network should certificate a user who isaccessing the network so as to charge the user for a service fee. In aconventional service system, when one user uses a plurality of services,the uses different certificating methods designated by the individualservices.

[0005]FIG. 1 shows such a conventional service system. When user 11 usestwo services A and B, the user 11 sends identification (ID) and apassword (PWD) for the service A to a server 12 of the service A. Theserver 12 references a user management database (user management DB) 13,certificates the user, and provides the service A to the user 11.

[0006] The user 11 sends an ID and a password for the service B to aserver 14 of the service B. The server 14 references a user managementDB 15, certificates the user, and provides the service B to the user 11.In such a manner, the user 11 can use the network services A and B.

[0007] However, the above-described conventional service system has thefollowing problems.

[0008] When one user uses a plurality of network services, the usershould take a membership qualification for each service. At that time,the user should input designated personal information on a terminalunit. Thus, when the number of services that the user uses increases,the load of the user increases.

[0009] Each service provider should perform a membership qualificationfor each user. Thus, each service provider should analyze personalinformation sent from each user. Consequently, as the number of userswho want become members increases, the load of the service providerincreases.

[0010] When each service provider starts a new service, while predictingthe number of new members, the service provider should designateconditions used for the membership qualification. To do that, a systemthat allows the relation between the designated conditions and thenumber of members to be effectively analyzed is desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0011] An object of the present invention is to provide a system and amethod that allow a membership qualifying process for each of aplurality of membership services used by a user to be effectivelyperformed.

[0012] A first aspect of the present invention is a processing system,comprising a storing device, a selecting device, and a presentingdevice. The storing device stores membership qualification conditions ofa plurality of services. The selecting device compares membershipqualification conditions of a service of which a user has become amember (referred to as joined service) with membership qualificationconditions of a service of which the user has not become a member(referred to as non-joined service) and selects a service of which theuser can become a member. The presenting device 23 presents informationabout the service of which the user can become a member to the user.

[0013] A second aspect of the present invention is a processing system,comprising a storing a storing device, a first determining device, and asecond determining device. The storing device stores identificationinformation of a first service as qualification criterion informationfor qualifying membership of a second service. The first determiningdevice determines whether or not a user has used the second service whenthe user wants to become a member of the first service. The seconddetermining device determines that the user has a membershipqualification for the second service when the user has used the firstservice.

[0014] A third aspect of the present invention is a processing system,comprising a storing device, a designating device, a simulating device,and an output device. The storing device stores membership qualificationconditions of an existing service. The designating device designates anew membership qualification condition. The simulating device comparesthe membership qualification conditions of the existing service with thenew membership qualification condition and obtains information about thenumber of users who can become members of the service corresponding tothe new membership qualification condition. The output device outputsthe obtained information.

[0015] These and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will become more apparent in light of the following detaileddescription of a best mode embodiment thereof, as illustrated in theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0016]FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of aconventional service system;

[0017]FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the theory of a processingsystem according to the present invention;

[0018]FIG. 3A is a schematic diagram showing an issuing process and aqualifying process for a certificate;

[0019]FIG. 3B is a schematic diagram showing an invalidating process fora certificate;

[0020]FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a certificating processusing a certificate;

[0021]FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a certificate managementtable;

[0022]FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing an available servicemanagement table;

[0023]FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a user informationmanagement table;

[0024]FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing an issuing process and invalidatingprocess for a certificate;

[0025]FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing a qualifying process for acertificate;

[0026]FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the structure of a servicesystem;

[0027]FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the use of aplurality of services;

[0028]FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing a service table;

[0029]FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing a membership qualificationtable;

[0030]FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing a menu of a certificateauthority;

[0031]FIG. 15 is a first part of a flow chart showing a servicedisplaying process;

[0032]FIG. 16 is a second part of the flow chart shown in FIG. 15;

[0033]FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram showing a service selection screen;

[0034]FIG. 18 is a first part of a flow chart showing a membershipqualifying process;

[0035]FIG. 19 is a second part of the flow chart shown in FIG. 18;

[0036]FIG. 20 is a schematic diagram showing a condition input screen;

[0037]FIG. 21 is a schematic diagram showing a first determined resultscreen;

[0038]FIG. 22 is a schematic diagram showing a second determined resultscreen;

[0039]FIG. 23 is a schematic diagram showing a third determined resultscreen;

[0040]FIG. 24 is a flow chart showing a simulating process;

[0041]FIG. 25 is a schematic diagram showing a simulation screen;

[0042]FIG. 26 is a schematic diagram showing a member count table;

[0043]FIG. 27 is a block diagram showing the structure of an informationprocessing unit; and

[0044]FIG. 28 is a schematic diagram showing a record medium.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0045] Next, with reference to the accompanying drawings, an embodimentof the present invention will be described.

[0046]FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the theory of a processingsystem according to the present invention.

[0047] A first aspect of the present invention is a processing system,comprising a storing device 21, a selecting device 22, and a presentingdevice 23. The storing device 21 stores membership qualificationconditions of a plurality of services. The selecting device 22 comparesmembership qualification conditions of a service of which a user hasbecome a member (referred to as joined service) with membershipqualification conditions of a service of which the user has not become amember (referred to as non-joined service) and selects a service ofwhich the user can become a member. The presenting device 23 presentsinformation about the service of which the user can become a member tothe user.

[0048] When the user wants information about services of which the usercan become members, the selecting device 22 extracts membershipqualification conditions of joined services and membership qualificationconditions of non-joined services from membership qualificationconditions stored in the storing device 21. The selecting device 22compares those membership qualification conditions, selects services ofwhich the user can become members, and passes the selected result to thepresenting device 23. The presenting device 23 presents a list ofservices of which the user can become members as the selected result tothe user.

[0049] According to the processing system, before the user takes amembership qualification, the user can obtain a list of services ofwhich the user can become members. Thus, without need to take membershipqualifications for all non-joined services, the user can narrow servicesof which the user can become members and effectively select a service ofwhich the user wants to become a member.

[0050] A second aspect of the present invention is a processing system,comprising a storing a storing device 21, a first determining device 24,and a second determining device 25. The storing device 21 storesidentification information of a first service as qualification criterioninformation for qualifying membership of a second service. The firstdetermining device 24 determines whether or not a user has used thesecond service when the user wants to become a member of the firstservice. The second determining device 25 determines that the user has amembership qualification for the second service when the user has usedthe first service.

[0051] When the user wants to become a member of a first service, thefirst determining device 24 references the qualification criterioninformation for qualifying the membership of the first service andobtains identification information of a second service, theidentification information being contained in the qualificationcriterion information. The first determining device 24 determineswhether or not the user has used a second service corresponding to theidentification information and passes the determined result to thesecond determining device 25. When the determined result represents thatuser has not used the second service, the second determining device 25determines that the user has a membership qualification for the firstservice.

[0052] According to the processing system, when the user becomes amember of a new service, the membership qualification can be determinedcorresponding to membership qualification conditions of a service ofwhich the has become a member instead of user's personal information.Thus, the membership qualification can be simplified. Thus, the load ofa service provider alleviates.

[0053] A third aspect of the present invention is a processing system,comprising a storing device 21, a designating device 26, a simulatingdevice 27, and an output device 28. The storing device 21 storesmembership qualification conditions of an existing service. Thedesignating device 26 designates a new membership qualificationcondition. The simulating device 27 compares the membershipqualification conditions of the existing service with the new membershipqualification condition and obtains information about the number ofusers who can become members of the service corresponding to the newmembership qualification condition. The output device 28 outputs theobtained information.

[0054] When a service provider wants to analyze the relation betweenmembership qualification conditions of the service and the number ofusers, the service provider designates a new membership qualificationcondition using the designating device 26. The simulating device 27compares the existing membership qualification conditions of the servicestored in the storing device 21 with the designated membershipqualification condition and obtains the number of users who can becomemembers of the service corresponding to the designated membershipqualification condition. The output device 28 outputs the relationbetween the designated membership qualification condition and theobtained number of users.

[0055] According to the processing system, when the service providerstarts a new service or changes the membership qualification conditionsof the existing service, while considering the number of users who canbecome members of the service, the service provider can effectivelydesignate a membership qualification condition for qualifying themembership. Thus, the load of the service provider alleviates.

[0056] For example, the storing device 21 shown in FIG. 2 corresponds toa service management DB 52 shown in FIG. 10 (the service management DB52 will be described later). The selecting device 22, the presentingdevice 23, the determining device 24, the determining device 25, thedesignating device 26, the simulating device 27, and the output device28 shown in FIG. 2 correspond to a certificate managing portion 51 shownin FIG. 10.

[0057] A service system according to the embodiment includes acertificating system using a digital certificate. When the user presentsone digital certificate to a plurality of independent network services,the certificating system permits the user to use those services. Thecertificating system issues a digital certificate to only a usercertificated by a predetermined certificating method. The digitalcertificate represents that the user can use a plurality of services.

[0058] The digital certificate is generated by a certificate authoritythat digitally signing data of which a user name, a certificate issuer,a serial number, a user's public key, and so forth are integratedcorresponding to Specification X. 509 of ITU-U (InternationalTelecommunication Union Telecommunication Standardization Sector). Thecertificate authorizes that the public key contained therein belongs tothe user.

[0059]FIG. 3A shows an issuing process and a qualifying process for adigital certificate performed by such a certificating system. In FIG.3A, services A and B are membership services using IDs and passwords.Services 32 and 33 provide the services A and B to a user 31,respectively. A certificate authority 34 is a certificate issuingorganization that is independent from the service providers. Thecertificate authority 34 issues a digital certificate that is commonwith the services A and B to the user 31. The digital certificate isreferred to as common certificate.

[0060] To allow the user 31 to be certificated with the commoncertificate, the certificate authority 34 should issue a commoncertificate to the user 31. In that case, the certificate authority 34issues a common certificate to the user 31 through the service A. Whenthe user 31 initially accesses the service B, the server 33 qualifiesthe common certificate. The servers 32 and 33 contain user informationmanagement tables 36 and 37, respectively. Each of the informationmanagement tables 36 and 37 contain an ID, a password, and so forth ofthe user 31. In that case, the following process is performed in thissequence.

[0061] P1: The user 31 sends the ID and the password for the service Ato the server 32. The server 32 references the user informationmanagement table 36 and certificates the user 31. When the certificatedresult is OK, the server 32 requests the certificate authority 34 toissues the common certificate.

[0062] P2: The server 32 receives the common certificate from thecertificate authority 34 and issues the common certificate to the user31. At that point, the common certificate that the user 31 hascertificates the use of only the service A. A certificate management DB35 of the certificate authority 34 contains the relevant user name andinformation that represents the validity of the use of the service Aalong with identification information (for example, a serial number) ofthe common certificate. The user information management table 36contains a serial number (Ser. No.) of the common certificate along withthe ID and the password.

[0063] P3: The user 31 presents the issued common certificate to theserver 33.

[0064] P4: The server 33 determines that the present common certificatedoes not certificate the use of the service B and request the user 31for the ID and the password for the service B.

[0065] P5: The user 31 sends the ID and the password for the service Bto the server 33.

[0066] P6: The server 33 references the user information managementtable 37 and certificates the user. When the certificated result is OK,the server 33 provides the service B to the user 31. Thereafter, thecommon certificate that the user 31 has allows the user 31 to use theservice B. At that point, the common certificate that the user 31 hascertificates the use of the services A and B. The certificate managementDB 35 contains information that represents the validity of the use ofthe services A and B. In addition, the user information management table37 contains the serial number of the common certificate along with theID and the password.

[0067] At steps P1 and P5, the user is certificated with IDs andpasswords. Alternatively, the user may be certificated with anothercertificating method using finger print information, voice printinformation, picture information, or the like. When the user wants toquit the use of a service, the user performs an invalidating process forthe common certificate or a service use prohibiting process. When theuser performs the invalidating process for the common certificate, thefollowing process is performed in this sequence as shown in FIG. 3B.

[0068] P11: The user 31 sends the ID and the password for the service Aor the common certificate to the server 32.

[0069] P12: When the server 32 receives the ID and the password, theserver 32 references the user information management table 36 andcertificates the user 31. When the certificated result is OK, the server32 notifies the user 31 that the certificated result is OK. When theserver 32 receives the common certificate, the server 32 certificatesthe user 31 in a predetermined certificating method (that will bedescribed later) and notifies the user 31 of the certificated result.

[0070] P13: The user 31 requests the server 32 for the invalidation ofthe common certificate that the user 31 has. The server 32 notifies thecertificate authority 34 of the serial number of the common certificateand requests the certificate authority 34 to perform the invalidatingprocess for the common certificate. The certificate authority 34 deletesthe information of the common certificate from the certificatemanagement DB 35. The server 32 deletes the serial number of the commoncertificate from the user information management table 36.

[0071] P14: Thereafter, the user 31 presents the common certificate thatthe user 31 has as certification information to the server 33. Theserver 33 notifies the certificate authority 34 of the serial number ofthe presented common certificate and inquires the certificate authority34 for the validity of the common certificate.

[0072] P15: Since the notified serial number has not been registered tothe certificate management DB 35, the certificate authority 34 notifiesthe server 33 that the checked result is NG. The server 33 deletes theserial number of the common certificate from the user informationmanagement table 37 and notifies the user 31 of the invalidity of theuse of the service B.

[0073]FIG. 4 shows a user certificating process using an issued commoncertificate. In the case, a service is provided in the followingsequence.

[0074] P21: The user 31 presents a common certificate that the user 31has as certification information to the server 32. The server 32notifies the certificate authority 34 of the serial number of thepresented common certificate and requests the certificate authority 34to check for the common certificate. The certificate authority 34references the certificate management DB 35 and checks whether or notthe notified serial number has been registered thereto. When thenotified serial number has been registered and the service A can beused, the certificate authority 34 returns OK as the checked result tothe server 32.

[0075] P22: When the server 32 receives OK from the certificateauthority 34, the server 32 provides the service A to the user 31.

[0076] P23: The user 31 presents the common certificate that the user 31has as certification information to the server 33. The server 33receives the checked result from the certificate authority 34 in thesame manner as the server 32.

[0077] P24: When the server 33 receives OK from the certificateauthority 34, the server 33 provides the service B to the user 31.

[0078] In that example, the case that the user uses two services wasdescribed. This applies to the case that the user uses three or moreservices. The servers 32 and 33 request the certificate authority 34 forchecking for the common certificate so as to determine whether thepresented common certificate is invalid. However, it should be notedthat the checking step can be omitted.

[0079] In that case, in the invalidating step, the certificate authority34 notifies all servers of relevant services of the serial number of theinvalidated common certificate. Each server deletes the serial numberfrom the user information management table. When the user presents thecommon certificate to a particular server, if the serial number has beenregistered to a relevant user information management table, thecertificated result is OK. If the serial number has not been registered,the certificated result is NG.

[0080] In the certificating system shown in FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 4, theuser can use a plurality of service by presenting only a commoncertificate without need to use designated IDs and passwords for theindividual services. Thus, the user does not need to memorize aplurality of IDs and passwords. In addition, whenever the user uses aservice, the user does not need to input relevant ID and password. Thus,the user's load significantly alleviates.

[0081] The certificate management DB 35 contains a certificatemanagement table shown in FIG. 5 and an available service managementtable shown in FIG. 6. The certificate management table shown in FIG. 5contains a serial number, a user name, an address, and an e-mail addressof a common certificate. The available service management table shown inFIG. 6 contains a serial number and an available service ID of a commoncertificate. The certificate management table and the available servicemanagement table are generated for each common certificate.

[0082]FIG. 7 shows an example of the user information management tables36 and 37. The user information management table shown in FIG. 7contains a user ID, a password, a user's name, a use s address, and aserial number of a common certificate. The user information managementtable is generated for each user.

[0083]FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing a process performed in the casethat the user 31 requests the server 32 of the service A to issue orinvalidate a common certificate. First of all, the user 31 accesses theserver 32 (at step S1) . The server 32 displays a login screen on theuser's terminal unit (at step S2). Thereafter, the user 31 inputs an IDand a password for the service A (at step S3). The server 32 referencesthe user information management table 36 and checks for the input ID andpassword (at step S4).

[0084] When the determined result at step S4 is No (namely the input IDand password are not valid), the server 32 repeats the process from stepS2. When the determined result at step S4 is Yes (namely, the input IDand password are valid), the server 32 references the user informationmanagement table 36 and checks whether or not a common certificate hasbeen issued to the user 31 (at step S5).

[0085] When the determined result at step S5 is No (the serial number ofthe use s common certificate has not been registered to the userinformation management table 36), the server 32 determines that thecommon certificate has not been issued to the user 31 and requests thecertificate authority 34 to issue the common certificate (at step S6).

[0086] Thus, the certificate authority 34 issues the common certificate(at step S7). At that point, the certificate authority 34 generates acertificate management table that contains the serial number of thecommon certificate and the user information. In addition, thecertificate authority 34 generates an available service management tablethat contains the serial number of the common certificate and the ID ofthe service A. The certificate authority 34 places those tables to thecertificate management DB 35.

[0087] Thereafter, the server 32 delivers the issued common certificateto the user 31. The server 32 records the serial number of the commoncertificate to the user information management table 36 (at step S8).Thereafter, the server 32 completes the process.

[0088] When the determined result at step S5 is Yes (namely, the userinformation management table 36 contains the serial number of the commoncertificate), the server 32 notifies the user 31 that the commoncertificate has been issued and inquires the user 31 whether or not theuser 31 want to invalidate the common certificate (at step S9). When thedetermined result at step S9 is No (namely, the user 31 does not want toinvalidate the common certificate), the server 32 completes the process.

[0089] When the determined result at step S9 is Yes (namely, the userwants to invalidate the common certificate), the server 32 notifies thecertificate authority 34 of the serial number of the common certificateand requests the certificate authority 34 to invalidate it (at stepS10). Thus, the certificate authority 34 deletes the certificatemanagement table and the available service management tablecorresponding to the notified serial number and notifies the server 32of the processed result. The server 32 deletes the serial number of thecommon certificate from the user information management table 36 andnotifies the user 31 that the common certificate has been invalided.Thereafter, the server 32 completes the process.

[0090]FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing a process in the case that the user31 requests the server 33 to qualify a common certificate that the user31 has. First of all, the user 31 accesses the server 33 (at step S11)and presents the common certificate thereto (at step S12).

[0091] Thereafter, the server 33 checks whether the user informationmanagement table 37 contains the serial number of the presented commoncertificate (at step S13). When the determined result at step S13 is No(namely, the user information management table 37 does not contain theserial number), the server 33 performs the process at steps S14 to S16that are the same steps as steps S2 to S4, respectively.

[0092] When the determined result at step S16 is Yes (namely, the ID andthe password are valid), the server 33 notifies the certificateauthority 34 of the serial number of the presented common certificateand requests the certificate authority 34 to validate the use of theservice B with the common certificate (at step S17).

[0093] Thus, the certificate authority 34 adds the ID of the service Bto an available service management table corresponding to the notifiedserial number and notifies the server 33 of the validity of the use ofthe service B (at step S18). Thereafter, the server 33 records theserial number of the common certificate to the user informationmanagement table 37 (at step S19). Thereafter, the process is completed.

[0094] When the determined result at step S13 is Yes (namely, the userinformation management table 37 contains the serial number of the commoncertificate), the server 33 inquires the user 31 whether or not the user31 want to prohibit the use of the service B (at step S20-1). When thedetermined result at step S20-1 is No (namely, the user does not want toprohibit the use of the service B), the server 33 completes the process.

[0095] When the determined result at step S20-1 is Yes (namely, the userwants to prohibit the use of the service B), the server 33 deletes theserial number of the presented common certificate from the userinformation management table 37 (at step S20-2) and requests thecertificate authority 34 to delete the service B from the availableservice of the common certificate (at step S20-3).

[0096] Thus, the certificate authority 34 deletes the service ID of theservice B from the relevant available service management table andnotifies the server 33 that the service B has been deleted (at stepS20-4). Thereafter, the server 33 notifies the user 31 that the use ofthe service B has been prohibited. Thereafter, the server 33 completesthe process.

[0097] In the above-described example, the certificate management tableand the available service management table are independently provided.Alternatively, information of those tables may be contained in onetable.

[0098] Next, with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11, an example of which theabove-described certificating system is applied to Nifty, which is anInternet membership service.

[0099] Many companies provide services as portal sites on Nifty. Aportal site, which is a huge web site that is a gate of the Internet,has links to various service sites. However, when a plurality ofindependent services are concentrated to a portal site, thecertificating process becomes complicated. Besides Nifty, such a problemtakes place at any portal site. In that situation, using theabove-described common certificate, the certificating process can besimply performed for a plurality of services.

[0100]FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the structure of a servicesystem including a portal site Finance@nifty, which provides financialservices. The service system shown in FIG. 10 comprises the Internet 41,a server 42 of a certificate authority, a server 43 of a @niftymembership service, a server 44 of a bank, a server 45 of a credit cardcompany, a server 46 of an insurance company, a server 47 of an Internetshop, a server 48 of an electric power company, a server 49 of a gascompany, and a user terminal unit 50.

[0101] In the example, the @nifty, the bank, the credit card company,the insurance company, the Internet shop, the electric power company,and the gas company are independent business organizations that providerespective membership services.

[0102] The server 42 of the certificate authority comprises acertificate management DB 35, a certificate managing portion 51, and aservice management database 52. The certificate management DB 35contains a certificate management table and an available servicemanagement table for each common certificate. The certificate managingportion 51 for example issues, checks, and invalidates a commoncertificate using the certificate management DB 35. The servicemanagement DB 52 contains information about each service. Thecertificate managing portion 51 performs a membership qualifying processfor each service.

[0103] The server 43 of the @nifty membership service comprises amembership screen controlling portion 61, a charging managing portion62, a user management DB 63, a screen layout DB 64, and a charginginformation DB 65. The user management DB 63 contains a user informationmanagement table of each user. The screen layout DB 64 contains data ofa membership service screen. The charging information DB 65 containsdata of charged amount collected from the servers 47, 48, and 49 and soforth.

[0104] The membership screen controlling portion 61 controls a screendisplay of the user terminal unit 50 using the user management DB 63 andthe screen layout DB 64. The charging managing portion 62 controls ascreen display of the charged amount using the charging information DB65.

[0105] For example, a page 71 of the Finance@nifty displayed on the userterminal unit 50 contains items of a membership service 81 and acertificate 82. When the user designates those items, the user terminalunit 50 automatically sends its common certificate to the server 43. Theserver 43 certificates the user with the common certificate. When theuser has been successfully certificated, the user terminal unit 50displays a page 72 of a member menu. The page 72 contains items of apublic utility charge settlement service 83, a statement display service84, an address change notice service 85, and a member setting 86.

[0106] When the user selects the public utility charge settlementservice 83, the user terminal unit 50 sends the common certificate tothe server 44. The server 44 certificates the user with the commoncertificate. When the user has been successfully certificated, the userterminal unit 50 displays a page 73 of public utility charge settlement.The page 73 contains items of account transfer application 87, Internetpersonal payment 88, and bank settlement application 89.

[0107] When the user selects the statement display service 84, the userterminal unit 50 displays a page 74 of user's detailed financialinformation. At that point, when necessary, the user terminal unit 50sends the common certificate to the servers 44 and 45. The servers 44and 45 certificate the user.

[0108] The layout data of the page 74 is supplied from the membershipscreen controlling portion 61. The data of the charged amount issupplied from the charging managing portion 62. The balance data of thebank account is supplied from the server 44 of the bank. The chargesettlement data of the credit card is supplied from the server 45 of thecredit card company.

[0109]FIG. 11 shows a process of which a user uses the statement displayservice 84 in the service system shown in FIG. 10. In the process, aplurality of services of business organizations such as @nifty, a bank,and a credit card company are provided in the following sequence.

[0110] P31: The user accesses the Finance@nifty site with the commoncertificate on the user terminal unit 50.

[0111] P32: The server 43 of the @nifty membership service notifies theserver 42 of the certificate authority of the serial number of thecommon certificate.

[0112] P33: The server 42 references a relevant available servicemanagement table of the certificate management DB 35. When the commoncertificate represents the validity of the @nifty membership service,the server 42 returns OK as the checked result to the user terminal unit50.

[0113] P34: The server 43 causes the user terminal unit 50 to displaythe member menu 72.

[0114] P35: The user selects the statement display service from themember menu 72.

[0115] P36: The server 43 notifies the server 42 of the certificateauthority of the serial number of the common certificate and inquiresthe server 42 of the certificate authority for available servicescorresponding to the notified serial number.

[0116] P37: The server 42 references a relevant available servicemanagement table, obtains an available service ID corresponding to thenotified serial number, and returns it to the server 43.

[0117] P38: The server 43 sends layout data for drawing a screenincluding a display region corresponding to the received service ID tothe user terminal unit 50. The layout data is described in HTML(HyperText Markup Language), XML (eXtensible Markup Language) or thelike.

[0118] P39: The user terminal unit 50 inquires the server of the A bankfor statement information with the common certificate.

[0119] P40: The server of the A bank notifies the server 42 of thecertificate authority of the serial number of the presented commoncertificate.

[0120] P41: The server 42 references a relevant available servicemanagement table of the certificate management DB 35. When the commoncertificate represents the validity of the service of the A bank, theserver 42 of the certificate authority returns OK as the checked resultto the user terminal unit 50.

[0121] P42: The server of the A bank sends balance data of the user'saccount as the statement information to the user terminal unit 50.

[0122] P43 to P46: The server of the B bank sends balance data of theuser's account to the user terminal unit 50 corresponding to thecertificated result of the common certificate in the same manner as theserver of the A bank.

[0123] As a result, the user terminal unit 50 displays the statementpage 74. In the same manner, the server 45 of the credit card companyand the server 46 of the insurance company can provide the statementinformation of the statement page 74.

[0124] According to the service system shown in FIG. 10, statementinformation such as account balances and charged amounts of individualservices can be integrally displayed on one layout screen. Thus, theuser can transversely use a plurality of services. In FIG. 10, thefunction of the certificate authority is independent from each service.Alternatively, the function of the certificate authority may becontained in the @nifty membership service.

[0125] Next, with reference to FIGS. 12 to 26, a membership qualifyingprocess performed by the server 42 of the certificate authority shown inFIG. 10 will be described.

[0126] The service management DB 52 of the server 42 contains membershipqualification criterion information of a plurality of services. Thecertificate managing portion 51 references the membership qualificationcriterion information and performs an available membership servicedisplaying process, a membership qualifying process, a membershipqualification condition simulating process, and so forth.

[0127] In the available membership service displaying process,corresponding to the membership qualification criterion information ofeach service, a service that can be used by a particular user isselected from a plurality of services and the selected service isdisplayed. In the membership qualifying process, information of aservice of which a user has already become a member is used on behalf ofthe server of each service. In the membership qualification conditionsimulating process, a new membership qualification criterion issimulated corresponding to membership qualification criterioninformation of each service.

[0128]FIG. 12 shows an example of a service table contained in theservice management DB 52. FIG. 13 shows an example of a membershipqualification table contained in the service management DB 52. Thosetables are generated for each service.

[0129] The service table shown in FIG. 12 contains a service ID, acompany ID, user membership qualification conditions 1 to t of theservice, a service category, a service name, a service summary, amembership application URL (Uniform Resource Locator), and a membershipinquiry e-mail address. The membership qualification conditions 1 to tcorrespond to the membership qualification criterion information.Referring to FIG. 12, the service has membership qualificationconditions of sex, age, annual income, company of employment, and soforth. In this example, an applicant who is a female of up to 40 yearsold and who has an annual income of over ¥ 6,000,000 can become a memberof the service.

[0130] The membership qualification table shown in FIG. 13 contains aservice ID and qualification criteria. The qualification criteriainclude a company ID and a service ID of a service provided by thecompany. The membership qualification table is used to qualify themembership of a use to a service corresponding to membershipqualification conditions of another service.

[0131] According to the qualification criteria shown in FIG. 13, a userwho uses services “★★★★B” and “★★★★C” of a company “aaaaa”, any serviceof a company “bbbbb”, or a service “★★★★D” of a company “cccc” ispermitted to become a member of the service A.

[0132] When a company can be identified with the content (sequence ofdigits) of a service ID, the membership qualification table does notalways need to contain the company ID. When a user does not satisfy thequalification criteria of the membership qualification table, the useris qualified corresponding to the membership qualification conditions ofthe service table in the conventional membership qualifying process.

[0133]FIG. 14 shows an example of the menu screen displayed when a useror a service provider accesses the server 42 of the certificateauthority. The menu shown in FIG. 14 contains items of an availablemembership service display 91, a membership qualification 92, and amembership qualification condition simulation 93. When the user selectsthe available membership service display 91 with a common certificate,the server 42 of the authenticating office performs the servicedisplaying process. When the service provider selects the membershipqualification 92, the server 42 of the authenticating office performsthe membership qualifying process. When the service provider selects themembership qualification condition simulation 93, the server 42 of theauthenticating office performs the membership qualification conditionsimulating process.

[0134] The menu screen may separately display a screen for a member anda screen for a service provider. In this case, those screens displayonly items that can be used by the user and the service provider,respectively.

[0135]FIGS. 15 and 16 are a first part and a second part of a flow chartshowing the available membership service displaying process performed bythe certificate managing portion 51 of the server 42. The certificatemanaging portion 51 references to a relevant available servicemanagement table of the certificate management DB 35 corresponding to aserial number of a common certificate presented by the user and obtainsregistered service IDs (at step S21 in FIG. 15).

[0136] Thereafter, the certificate managing portion 51 determines thenumber of obtained service IDs (at step S22). Those service IDsrepresent that the user has become members thereof. When the determinedresult at step S22 is Yes (namely, there are a plurality of serviceIDs), the certificate managing portion 51 references the servicemanagement DB 52, extracts membership qualification conditions from therelevant service tables corresponding to the service IDs, and ANDs themembership qualification conditions of the services (at step S23). Thecertificate managing portion 51 records the resultant conditions asmembership qualification conditions of services of which the user hasbecome members (hereinafter those services are referred to as joinedservices).

[0137] Thereafter, the certificate managing portion 51 evokes one of theservice tables of the services of which the user has not become members(hereinafter those services are referred to as non-joined services) (atstep S24). The certificate managing portion 51 compares the conditionsof the joined service with the conditions of the non-joined service (atstep S25) . When the determined result at step S25 is No (namely, theconditions of the joined service do not satisfy the conditions of thenon-joined service), the certificate managing portion 51 repeats theprocess from step S24.

[0138] When the determined result at step S25 is Yes (namely, theconditions of the joined service satisfy the conditions of thenon-joined service), the certificate managing portion 51 determineswhether or not the evoked service table contains another membershipqualification condition (at step S26) When the determined result at stepS26 is No (namely, the service table does not contain another membershipqualification condition), the certificate managing portion 51 determinesthat the user can immediately become a member of the service and recordsthe category, name, and summary of the non-joined service to a table forservices without any condition in a buffer area of the memory (at stepS27).

[0139] Thereafter, the certificate managing portion 51 determineswhether or not there is a service table of a non-joined service. Whenthe determined result at step S28 is Yes (namely, there is a servicetable of a non-joined service), the certificate managing portion 51repeats the process from step S24. When the determined result at stepS26 is Yes (namely, the service table contains another condition), thecertificate managing portion 51 determines that the user can become amember of the service with the condition and stores the category, name,and summary of the non-joined service and the condition to a table forservices with conditions (at step S29). Thereafter, the certificatemanaging portion 51 repeats the process from step S28.

[0140] When the determined result at step S28 is Yes (namely, there isno service table of a non-joined service), the certificate managingportion 51 displays the contents of the tables generated at steps S27and S29 as the service selection screen as shown in FIG. 17 on the userterminal unit 50 (at step S30).

[0141] The service selection screen shown in FIG. 17 displays servicesof which the user has become members and services of which the user canbecome members. The services of which the user can become members aredivided into services of which the user can become members without anycondition and services of which the user can become with a condition.

[0142] On such a service selection screen, when the user selects anon-joined service (at step S31 in FIG. 16), the certificate managingportion 51 references a relevant service table, obtains a serviceapplication URL, and sends the obtained URL to the user terminal unit 50(at step S32). Thus, the user's screen is jumped to the site of theselected service. The user terminal unit 50 displays the membershipapplication screen (at step S33). Thereafter, the user requests the sitefor the application of the membership of the service corresponding tothe instructions of the membership application screen.

[0143] Instead of requesting the site for the application of themembership of the service on the membership application screen, the usercan send a membership inquiry e-mail to the site of the selectedservice. In that case, at steps S32 and S33, the certificate managingportion 51 obtains the membership inquiry e-mail address from therelevant service table and displays it on the user terminal unit.

[0144] In the available membership service displaying process, beforetaking a membership qualification, the user can obtain a list ofavailable non-joined services. Thus, without need to take membershipqualifications for all non-joined services, the user can narrow servicesof which the user can become members. The user can select a desiredservice from the narrowed services.

[0145]FIGS. 18 and 19 are a first part and a second part of a flow chartshowing a membership qualifying process performed by the certificatemanaging portion 51, respectively. The certificate managing portion 51displays a condition input screen as shown in FIG. 20 on a terminal unitof a service provider (for example, a server that provides a service)and prompts the service provider for membership qualificationinformation (at step S41 in FIG. 18). Thus, the service provider inputsa serial number of a common certificate of a user who wants to become amember of the service and a service ID of the service.

[0146] Thereafter, the certificate managing portion 51 searches theservice management DB 52 for a membership qualification tablecorresponding to the input service ID (at step S42). When the serviceprovider pre-registers a membership qualification table, the certificatemanaging portion 51 evokes it.

[0147] Thereafter, the certificate managing portion 51 searches thecertificate management DB 35 for an available service management tablecorresponding to the input serial number (at step S43). When thedetermined result at step S43 is No (namely, the certificate managementDB 35 does not obtain the relevant available service management table),the certificate managing portion 51 displays a message that representsthat the user cannot be found or that the user does not use the otherservice (at step S44). Thereafter, the certificate managing portion 51completes the process.

[0148] When the determined result at step S43 is Yes (namely, thecertificate management DB 35 contains the relevant available servicemanagement table), the certificate managing portion 51 evokes it andcompares the service ID registered in the available service managementtable with the qualification criteria of the membership qualificationtable (at step S45). When the determined result at step S45 is Yes(namely, the service ID satisfies the qualification criteria of themembership qualification table), the certificate managing portion 51determines that the user has a membership qualification and displays aqualified result screen as shown in FIG. 21 (at step S46). Thereafter,the certificate managing portion 51 completes the process.

[0149] When the determined result at step S42 is No (namely, the serviceprovider does not pre-register a membership qualification table), sincethe service management DB 52 does not contain a relevant membershipqualification table, the flow advances to step S47 (shown in FIG. 19).In addition, when the determined result at step S45 is No (namely, theservice ID does not satisfy the qualification criteria), the flowadvances to step S47.

[0150] Steps S47 and S48 shown in FIG. 19 are the same as steps S43 andS44 shown in FIG. 18, respectively. In addition, steps S49 and S50 shownin FIG. 19 are the same as steps S22 and S23 shown in FIG. 15,respectively.

[0151] When the conditions of a joined service have been recorded atsteps S49 and S50, the certificate managing portion 51 evokes a servicetable of a service corresponding to the service ID that has been inputby the service provider (at step S51 in FIG. 19) and compares theconditions of the joined service with the conditions of the relevantservice (at step S52).

[0152] When the determined result at step S52 is No (namely, theconditions of the joined service do not satisfy the conditions of therelevant service), the certificate managing portion 51 determines thatthe user does not have a membership qualification for the service anddisplays a qualified result screen as shown in FIG. 22 (at step S53).Thereafter, the certificate managing portion 51 completes the process.The screen shown in FIG. 22 contains a message that represents that itcannot be determined that the user has a membership qualification forthe service. The screen shown in FIG. 22 may contain a message thatrepresents that to continue the membership qualification, the usershould input his or her personal information.

[0153] When the determined result at step S52 is Yes (namely, theconditions of the joined service satisfy the conditions of the relevantservice), the certificate managing portion 51 determines whether or notthe service table contains another membership qualification condition(at step S54). When the determined result at step S54 is No (namely, theservice table does not contain another membership qualificationcondition), the certificate managing portion 51 determines that the userhas a membership qualification for the service and displays thequalified result screen as shown in FIG. 21 (at step S55). Thereafter,the certificate managing portion 51 completes the process.

[0154] When the determined result at step S54 is Yes (namely, theservice table contains another condition), the certificate managingportion 51 obtains the condition (at step S56) and determines that theuser has a membership qualification for the service with a condition.Thereafter, the certificate managing portion 51 displays a qualifiedresult screen as shown in FIG. 23 (at step S57). Thereafter, thecertificate managing portion 51 completes the process. The screen shownin FIG. 23 represents that the other condition is an additionalcondition that the user should input.

[0155] When the certificate authority concentrically manages availablemembership services and a user becomes a member of a new service, thecertificate authority qualifies a membership for the user on behalf ofthe service provider. Thus, the load of the service provider necessaryfor qualifying the membership alleviates. For example, when a user has amembership qualification for a bank service and an insurance service, amembership qualification of a credit card service for the user can beomitted.

[0156]FIG. 24 is a flow chart showing a membership qualificationcondition simulating process performed by the certificate managingportion 51. First of all, the certificate managing portion 51 displays asimulation screen as shown in FIG. 2 on the terminal unit of the serviceprovider and prompts the service provider for a membership qualificationcondition to be simulated (at step S61). Thus, the service providerinputs conditions such as sex, age, and annual income and then presses asimulation button 101.

[0157] The certificate managing portion 51 generates a virtual servicetable containing the input membership qualification conditions in abuffer area of the memory (at step S62) and evokes one service tablefrom the service management DB 52 (at step S63). Thereafter, thecertificate managing portion 51 compares the conditions of the virtualservice table with the conditions of the service table that has beenevoked from the service management DB 52 (at step S64). Hereinafter, theservice table that has been evoked from the service management DB 52 isreferred to as real service table.

[0158] When the determined result at step S64 is No (namely, theconditions of the virtual service table do not satisfy the conditions ofthe real service table), the certificate managing portion 51 repeats theprocess from step S63. When the determined result at step S64 is Yes(namely, the conditions of the virtual service table satisfy theconditions of the real service table), the certificate managing portion51 determines whether or not the real service table contains anothermembership qualification condition (at step S65) When the determinedresult at step S65 is Yes (namely, the real service table containsanother condition), the certificate managing portion 51 repeats theprocess from step S63.

[0159] When the determined result at step S65 is No (namely, the realservice table does not contain another membership qualificationcondition), the certificate managing portion 51 searches the certificatemanagement DB 35 for an available service management table that containsthe service ID contained in the real service table and obtains a serialnumber of a common certificate from one of such available servicemanagement tables (at step S66). Thereafter, the certificate managingportion 51 determines whether or not a member count table as shown inFIG. 26 contains the serial number (at step S67). The member count tableis placed in the buffer area of the memory (at step S67).

[0160] When the determined result at step S67 is Yes (namely, the membercount table contains the serial number), the certificate managingportion 51 repeats the process from step S66. When the determined resultat step S67 is No (namely, the member count table does not contain theserial number), the certificate managing portion 51 adds the serialnumber to the member count table. Thereafter, the certificate managingportion 51 determines whether or not there is another service table (atstep S69). When the determined result at step S69 is Yes (namely, thereis another service table), the certificate managing portion 51 repeatsthe process from step S63.

[0161] When the determined result at step S69 is Yes (namely, there isno service table), the certificate managing portion 51 counts the numberof serial numbers contained in the member count table (at step S70) anddisplays the counted result on the simulation screen (at step S71).Thereafter, the certificate managing portion 51 completes the process.

[0162] The screen shown in FIG. 25 displays the number of serial numbersthat have been counted as the number of users who can become members ofthe service corresponding to the input conditions as a percentage of thetotal of issued common certificates to the number of users who canbecome members of the service. When the service provider repeats thesimulation by changing the input conditions, he or she can determinemembership qualification conditions corresponding to a desired number ofusers. However, one of the number of uses who can become members of theservice and the percentage may be displayed on the screen.

[0163] In the membership qualification condition simulating process,when the service provider starts a new service or changes membershipqualification conditions of an existing service, the service providercan effectively designate membership qualification conditions whilesimulating the relation between membership qualification conditions andthe number of members. Thus, the load of the service provideralleviates.

[0164] The servers 42 to 49 and the user terminal unit 50 shown in FIG.10 can be composed of an information processing unit (computer) shown inFIG. 27. The information processing unit shown in FIG. 27 comprises aCPU (Central Processing Unit) 111, a memory 112, an input device 113, anoutput device 114, an external storing device 115, a medium drivingdevice 116, and a network connecting device 117. These devices areconnected by a bus 118.

[0165] The memory 112 includes for example a ROM (Read Only Memory) anda RAM (Random Access Memory) The memory 112 stores programs and data.The CPU 111 executes a program using the memory 112 so as to perform adesired process.

[0166] For example, the certificate managing portion 51, the membershipscreen controlling portion 61, and the charging managing portion 62shown in FIG. 10 are stored as software components that are described asprograms to the memory 112.

[0167] The input device 113 includes for example a keyboard, a pointingdevice, and a touch panel. The input device 113 is used to input acommand and information. The input device 113 is used by the operator (aservice provider or a user). The output device 114 includes for examplea display device, a printer, and a speaker. The output device 114 isused to prompt a user for data and to output processed results.

[0168] The external storing device 115 is for example a magnetic discdevice, an optical disc device, a magneto-optical disc device, or a tapedevice. The information processing unit stores the above-describedprograms and data to the external storing device 115. When necessary,the information processing unit loads the programs and data to thememory 112. The external storing device 115 may be used for thecertificate management DB 35, the service management DB 52, the usermanagement DB 63, the screen layout DB 64, and the charging informationDB 65 shown in FIG. 10.

[0169] The medium driving device 116 drives a portable record medium 119and accesses the contents thereof. The portable record medium 119 is forexample a memory card, a floppy disk, a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read OnlyMemory), an optical disc, or a magneto-optical disc from which anycomputer can read data. The operator stores the above-described programsand data to the portable record medium 119. When necessary, the operatorloads the programs and data to the memory 112.

[0170] The network connecting device 117 is connected to anycommunication network such as Internet 41. The network connecting device117 converts data so as to communicate with the communication network.The information processing unit receives the above-described programsand data from another device through the network connecting device 117.When necessary, the information processing unit loads the programs anddata to the memory 112.

[0171]FIG. 28 shows a record medium from which a computer can read aprogram and data and supply them to the information processing unitshown in FIG. 27. The programs and data stored in the portable recordmedium 119 and a database 121 of a server 120 are loaded to the memory112. At that point, the server 120 generates a transfer signal fortransferring programs and so forth and transmits them to the informationprocessing unit through any transfer medium on the network. The CPU 111executes the programs with the data so as to perform a required process.

[0172] According to the above-described embodiment, the digitalcertificate corresponding to ITU-T Specification X.509 is used ascertification information. When necessary, certification informationcorresponding to another specification may be used.

[0173] According to the present invention, when a user selects one froma plurality of membership services, the user can effectively narrowavailable services. In addition, the service provider can effectivelyperform a membership qualification and designate conditions thereof.Thus, in the membership qualifying process, the loads of the user andthe service provider alleviate.

[0174] Although the present invention has been shown and described withrespect to a best mode embodiment thereof, it should be understood bythose skilled in the art that the foregoing and various other changes,omissions, and additions in the form and detail thereof may be madetherein without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A processing system, comprising: a storing devicestoring a plurality of membership conditions of the plurality ofservices; a selecting device comparing, among the plurality ofmembership conditions, a membership condition of a service of which auser has become a member with a membership condition of a service ofwhich the user has not become a member and selecting a service of whichthe user can become a member; and a presenting device presentinginformation about the service of which the user can become a member tothe user.
 2. The processing system as set forth in claim 1 , whereinwhen the user is a member of at least two services, said selectingdevice totals membership conditions of the at least two services andcompares a totaled membership condition with the membership condition ofthe service of which the user has not become the member.
 3. Theprocessing system as set forth in claim 2 , further comprising: aregistering device registering certificate information in common withthe at least two services; and a receiving device receiving certificateinformation of the user, wherein when the certificate information of theuser corresponds to the common certificate information, said selectingdevice obtains the membership conditions of the at least two servicesbased on the certificate information of the user.
 4. A processingsystem, comprising: a storing device storing identification informationof a first service as qualification criterion information for qualifyingmembership of a second service; a first determining device determiningwhether or not a user is utilizing the first service when the user wantsto become a member of the second service; and a second determiningdevice determining that the user has a membership qualification for thesecond service when the user is utilizing the first service.
 5. Theprocessing system as set forth in claim 4 , further comprising: aregistering device registering certificate information for a servicethat the user is utilizing; and a receiving device receivingidentification information of the certificate information of the user,wherein when the identification information corresponds to theregistered certificate information, said first determining deviceobtains information about the service that the user is utilizing basedon the identification information and determines whether or not the useris utilizing the first service.
 6. A processing system, comprising: astoring device storing a membership condition of an existing service; adesignating device designating a new membership condition; a simulatingdevice comparing the membership condition of the existing service withthe new membership condition and obtaining information about the numberof users who can become members of a service corresponding to the newmembership condition; and an output device outputting the obtainedinformation.
 7. The processing system as set forth in claim 6 , furthercomprising: a registering device registering a plurality of pieces ofcertificate information of the plurality of users who are utilizing theexisting service, wherein when the new membership condition satisfiesthe membership condition of the existing service, said simulating devicecounts the number of the pieces of certificate information and obtainsthe number of users who can become the members of the servicecorresponding to the new membership condition.
 8. A computer-readablerecording medium on which a program for a computer is recorded, saidprogram causing the computer to perform: comparing, among a plurality ofmembership conditions of the plurality of services, a membershipcondition of a service of which a user has become a member with amembership condition of a service of which the user has not become amember and selecting a service of which the user can become a member;and presenting information about the service of which the user canbecome a member to the user.
 9. A computer-readable recording medium onwhich a program for a computer is recorded, said program causing thecomputer to perform: determining whether or not a user is utilizing afirst service when the user wants to become a member of a second servicebased on identification information of the first service included inqualification criterion information for qualifying membership of thesecond service; and determining that the user has a membershipqualification for the second service when the user is utilizing thefirst service.
 10. A computer-readable recording medium on which aprogram for a computer is recorded, said program causing the computer toperform: designating a new membership condition; comparing a membershipcondition of an existing service with the new membership condition andobtaining information about the number of users who can become membersof a service corresponding to the new membership condition; andoutputting the obtained information.
 11. A processing method,comprising: storing a plurality of membership conditions of theplurality of services; comparing, among the plurality of membershipconditions, a membership condition of a service of which a user hasbecome a member with a membership condition of a service of which theuser has not become a member and selecting a service of which the usercan become a member; and presenting information about the service ofwhich the user can become a member to the user.
 12. A processing method,comprising: referencing qualification criterion information forqualifying membership of a first service when a user wants to become amember of the first service; determining whether or not the user isutilizing a second service based on identification information of thesecond service included in the qualification criterion information; anddetermining that the user has a membership qualification for the firstservice when the user is utilizing the second service.
 13. A processingmethod for simulating relation between a membership condition for aservice and the number of users, comprising: designating a newmembership condition; and comparing a membership condition of anexisting service with the new membership condition and obtaininginformation of the number of users that can become members of a servicecorresponding to the new membership condition.
 14. A processing system,comprising: storing means for storing a plurality of membershipconditions of the plurality of services; selecting means for comparing,among the plurality of membership conditions, a membership condition ofa service of which a user has become a member with a membershipcondition of a service of which the user has not become a member andselecting a service of which the user can become a member; andpresenting means for presenting information about the service of whichthe user can become a member to the user.
 15. A processing system,comprising: storing means for storing identification information of afirst service as qualification criterion information for qualifyingmembership of a second service; first determining means for determiningwhether or not a user is utilizing the first service when the user wantsto become a member of the second service; and second determining meansfor determining that the user has a membership qualification for thesecond service when the user is utilizing the first service.
 16. Aprocessing system, comprising: storing means for storing a membershipcondition of an existing service; designating means for designating anew membership condition; simulating means for comparing the membershipcondition of the existing service with the new membership condition andobtaining information about the number of users who can become membersof a service corresponding to the new membership condition; and outputmeans for outputting the obtained information.
 17. A propagation signalfor propagating a program to a computer, said program causing thecomputer to perform: comparing, among a plurality of membershipconditions of the plurality of services, a membership condition of aservice of which a user has become a member with a membership conditionof a service of which the user has not become a member and selecting aservice of which the user can become a member; and presentinginformation about the service of which the user can become a member tothe user.
 18. A propagation signal for propagating a program to acomputer, said program causing the computer to perform: determiningwhether or not a user is utilizing a first service when the user wantsto become a member of a second service based on identificationinformation of the first service included in qualification criterioninformation for qualifying membership of the second service; anddetermining that the user has a membership qualification for the secondservice when the user is utilizing the first service.
 19. A propagationsignal for propagating a program to a computer, said program causing thecomputer to perform: designating a new membership condition; comparing amembership condition of an existing service with the new membershipcondition and obtaining information about the number of users who canbecome members of a service corresponding to the new membershipcondition; and outputting the obtained information.